Guide · 6 min read · updated 2026-09-17

How to get rid of a mattress in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties

Free retailer take-back, free county drop-off limits, what each gate charges per mattress, and when paying someone to haul it is actually worth it.

The short answer

Most people in this area can get rid of a mattress for nothing. You just have to know which of three doors to use.

• Buying a new one with delivery? California law requires the retailer to offer to take the old one back at no additional cost.
• San Joaquin County resident with a truck? North County Landfill on Harney Lane takes up to 10 mattresses or box springs per trip at no charge with proof of residency.
• Sacramento County? Kiefer Landfill and the North Area Recovery Station both list mattresses from non-business loads at no fee.

If none of those fit — no truck, no delivery coming, a second-floor bedroom and a bad back — that is when a hauler earns the money. Everything below is the detail behind those three answers, with every fee dated.

Why a mattress is its own category

Mattresses are bulky, springy and hard to compact, which is why landfills and transfer stations price them separately from ordinary trash. They are also one of the items most often dumped on roadsides, which is the problem California's recycling law was written to fix.

The Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act (Public Resources Code §42985 and following, added by SB 254 in 2013) requires mattress manufacturers to fund and run a statewide program to collect and recycle used mattresses. The Legislature wrote the intent plainly: consumers should have the opportunity to drop off used mattresses free of charge.

The program is run by the Mattress Recycling Council under the name Bye Bye Mattress. It is paid for by a recycling fee added at the register when you buy a mattress or box spring. The Council lists California's fee at $18.00 per unit, effective April 1, 2026. You already paid for the disposal of the mattress you are replacing; the point of this page is to help you actually use it.

Door one: retailer take-back

If a store is delivering your new mattress, the law requires it to offer to haul your old one away at no additional cost. According to Bye Bye Mattress:

• The retailer has up to 30 days to take back the old mattress.
• Delivery or setup fees on the new product can still apply.
• The retailer can refuse a mattress that poses a health or safety risk.

That last line is where people get caught. A mattress that is soaked, torn open or carrying bed bugs can be refused at the door. Ask when you order, not when the truck arrives, and have the old mattress stripped, dry and ready to go.

Door two: the free drop-off

Bye Bye Mattress reports more than 240 permanent drop-off locations and roughly 100 collection events a year in California. Use their site finder for the nearest one; locations change, and we would rather send you to the live list than print one that goes stale.

Closer to home, the county gates are often the easiest free option, and the terms differ by county.

The Lodi detail that matters most

The two Lodi gates are about twelve minutes apart and they could not treat a mattress more differently.

At North County Landfill on Harney Lane, a San Joaquin County resident's first 10 mattresses cost nothing. A business load pays the ordinary weighed rate with no per-unit charge. At the WM Lodi Transfer Station on Turner Road, the posted business rate is $72.29 (effective 2024-08-15) per mattress — and that is before WM's weekly-variable energy surcharge and 14.50% waste water charge.

So a Lodi homeowner hauling a queen set in a pickup can pay nothing at one gate, while a commercial load at the other pays that per-mattress rate for every piece. Bring proof of San Joaquin County residency to North County. Its hours are Mon-Sun 7a-4p (strictly enforced), and it does not take cash.

The full gate-by-gate comparison, including a benchmark cleanout load at both Lodi gates, is in every gate and every rate for 2026.

Getting it there without a fight

A queen mattress is not heavy, but it is awkward: floppy, wide and slick. A few things make the trip easier.

• Strap it flat, not on edge. A mattress on edge in a pickup bed catches wind like a sail.
• Cover or tie down the whole load. At North County an uncovered or unsecured load pays a double disposal fee, or you buy a tarp at the gate.
• Bag it if it is going on a car roof or through a house. A mattress bag from a moving supply store keeps a box spring from snagging door frames.
• Leave the frame out of the free count. The resident limits above are for mattresses and box springs. A metal bed frame is scrap metal; a wooden one is ordinary weighed waste.

If the mattress has bed bugs, say so to whoever is taking it. Wrap it fully in plastic before it leaves the room so you are not spreading them through the house on the way out.

When paying a hauler is worth it

Honestly? For one mattress, if you have a truck and live in San Joaquin County, drive it to Harney Lane yourself. It costs you gas and an hour.

Hiring it out makes sense when the mattress is not the only thing going, when there is a staircase between it and the curb, or when there is no truck. Our per-item line for a mattress or box spring is $45 each, and our price book shows exactly how that combines with the size of the load and any stairs. If it is one piece of a bedroom set, the furniture removal page covers how we price the whole room.

Furniture with an active bed bug problem is still something we will take. We ask you to tell us up front, because it has to be wrapped before it is carried and priced differently.

What happens to a mattress after pickup

We will not tell you a story we cannot back up. Here is what we know.

On our loads, usable furniture goes to donation first, but a used mattress rarely qualifies — many charities will not accept one. Lodi-area loads go through North County Landfill, where a business load of mattresses is charged at the normal weighed rate. We keep the scale ticket on every load and will hand it to you on request.

If recycling specifically matters to you, the retailer take-back and a Bye Bye Mattress drop-off site are the two routes built for it, and both are free. We would rather point you there than take your money for the same result.

Quick answers

Can I put a mattress out with my regular trash? Not in the cart. Some city haulers run scheduled bulky-item pickups; call your garbage company before you set anything at the curb, or it becomes an illegal-dumping complaint with your address on it.

Does a box spring count as a mattress? Yes. The county sheets and the state program treat mattresses and box springs as the same unit.

What about a futon or a crib mattress? Check with the drop-off site. Some accept them; the county gates treat them as ordinary weighed waste if they are not listed.

I am an executor clearing a whole house. Then the mattresses are the easy part. Start with the estate cleanout cost guide and plan the whole job at once.

Related guides

Sources

Every fee above is read from the operator's own published sheet and shown with its effective date. Rates change; call the gate before you load a truck around a number.

• California Public Resources Code §42985 — Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act — read 2026-09-17
• Mattress Recycling Council — California program (fee $18.00 effective April 1, 2026; 240+ drop-off sites) — read 2026-09-17
• Bye Bye Mattress — California retailer take-back rules — read 2026-09-17
• San Joaquin County — North County Recycling Center & Sanitary Landfill price sheet, effective 2026-01-01 — read 2026-09-17
• Sacramento County — Kiefer Landfill fees, effective 2026-01-01 — read 2026-09-17
• Sacramento County — North Area Recovery Station fees, effective 2026-01-01 — read 2026-09-17
• Gilton Resource Recovery price sheet, effective 2026-07-01 — read 2026-09-17